Adventures in sewing – by men, for men.

Tag Archives: Jedediah-pants

I really appreciate all the constructive critical feedback I received in my previous article on pants fitting. I value the critical feedback every bit as much as I do the “Great work!” style comments, because they truly help me learn and get better as a sewist. So thank you to everyone who took the time to leave a comment.

More Jed Fitting

Last time, I had promised to show you the photos of the latest rounds of fitting on the Jedediah Pants pattern. Picking up where we left off, this photo shows the fitting session after I added the wedge of fabric back into the crotch seam, at the top of the pants back and just below the yoke piece.

I took the liberty of adding a waistband to get a better feel for how the waist hangs in back. I also added a zipper in front to make the fitting easier.

This “new” project is actually a continuation of the “Breakfast Club Wardrobe” project, though since it had gone on for so long I’m splitting it into two projects: the shirts (completed) and now the pants.

Given the amount of effort involved in producing a hand-made garment, I’ve come to realize that the effort is wasted if the fit and style aren’t also right. So I’m really trying to get the fit right before making three pairs of pants based on the pattern.

For readers new to the blog, this is not the first time I’ve wrestled with fitting this pattern. I’ve made several past attempts to fit these pants:

As we are now well into the back half of July, and I’m still at the muslin stage of my pants project, I’ve decided to abandon the idea of competing in the Pattern Review Mini-Wardrobe contest.

Ideally, all the muslin work would have been completed before July 1, leaving me to focus just on creating the final garments. To get the pants pattern to a point where I’m happy with it, I have to do more muslins. It would be sad to investment enormous time and effort into something that doesn’t fit, just to meet an arbitrary deadline.

And this month has been bad for me in terms of free time, with a big deadline to meet at work. I already have enough stress from job-related deadlines, I don’t need self-imposed deadlines for sewing projects as well.

So out the contest goes.

The Project Expands

That doesn’t mean the project is over. In fact, freed from the contest rule limitations it’s expanding to three pairs of pants and three shirts. Fabric Outlet, as expected, began their 40% off sale and I picked up a cut of the brown twill I had passed over for the platinum grey. It goes great with the shirt fabrics, and as a side benefit will take this summer wardrobe into the fall months. (September and most of October are traditionally the best “summer” months in San Francisco, because they have less fog and more sun).

On that muslin, I pinned out two inches of waistline and discovered it fits perfectly as a 34. I measure 39″ at the hips, so my new plan is to start with the size 34 pattern at the waist, then grade to size 32 at the hips all the way down.

Based on my thigh and knee measurements, I could even consider grading down from 32 to 30 beneath the crotch area, but I want to see how this single change from 36 down to 34/32 works before doing more alterations. Continue reading →